Duel Rangers D
by Patrykowski der Jaeger
Summary: To protect the Nine Barriers of Direction, random humans, each with a magical connection, are transported to the Neo-Digital World. Now, 3 Duelists, 3 Digidestined, and 2 people known as "Rangers" must take up arms against a terrifying chaotic foe.
1. Dimensional Void

**Duel Rangers-D**

_Episode I: Dimensional Void_

"Not so fast! Reveal facedown: Magical Arm Shield! Now, since your Blue-Eyes White Dragon has declared an attack against my Dark Magician Girl, I can take control of one of your monsters and force your Blue Eyes' attack onto your other monster; and I choose your second Blue Eyes!"

"What?!"

"That's right. Go! Magical Arm Shield!"

Out of the large purple card sprang a pair of cymbals attached to a retractable claw, which gripped the enormous towering dragon across the playing field.

The beast howled in rebuttal, but it was inevitably switched into the line of fire of his former comrade. By its nature, the controlled Blue Eyes roared in defiance as it fired its own White Lightning Attack. Seconds later, both dragons were disintegrated.

"Are you done yet, Kaiba?" asked the King of Games, smirking.

"Yugi, are you ever going to get a new strategy?"

"What?"

"You're so predictable. I guess without 'the pharaoh' guiding you, you're more helpless than I thought. Because you clearly disregarded my facedown; a mistake you'll soon learn to never make again!" shouted Seto Kaiba, owner of the largest gaming corporation on Earth.

"Now, say hello to my trap card: Rope of Life! By discarding the two cards in my hand, I can bring back my faithful Blue Eyes with an extra 800 attack points! Go, Blue Eyes! Pick up where you left off!"

In a flash of white, the giant dragon reappeared, screaming in rage as it powered up a ball of lighting in its mouth.

"Hold on, Kaiba," Yugi muttered, a small smirk on his face.

"What are you grinning about?!"

"My _own _facedown, that's what, _Kaiba_. You see, I never neglected your facedown because I knew it was going to be something to bring your precious dragon back to the field. Which is why I have something to _kick it back off_! Go! Magical Dimension!"

"No way!"

"Yes way! Now I destroy my Dark Magician Girl to destroy your Blue Eyes White Dragon."

"Ah!"

"It doesn't stop there! Dark Magician Girl may be gone, but she's leaving you a little gift; her master, the Dark Magician!"

_This is impossible! How did I walk right into that? _Kaiba growled at himself.

Kaiba's thoughts were interrupted by the bolt of energy that summoned Yugi's ultimate monster, the Dark Magician, who stared down at Kaiba threateningly while Blue Eyes faded into the graveyard once more.

"Hm… I end my turn."

"Stand back! I draw!"

Yugi examined his card, thinking to himself. _Kaiba only has one monster on the field that he's kept there for quite some time; now if I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior and use his effect to increase his attack to 1900, I could no doubt destroy his monster. But Kaiba also has two facedown cards. On the other hand, if I use Breaker's second effect, I can knock his attack back down to his original 1600 and destroy one of Kaiba's spell or trap cards. But that still leaves one card to worry about. And with only 800 life points left, I can't afford to make any mistakes! If I know Kaiba, one of those cards is his Shrink spell card, which will allow him to cut one monster's attack in half. The other card is Crush Card Virus, which will infect all my monsters with an attack of 1500 or more, including the ones in my hand and deck!_

"Oh Yugi…I hope you're not having one of your epic thought monologues, because as the CEO of an extremely busy company, I really don't have time to sit here and watch you sweat."

_Kaiba's right; I'd better do something fast._

"I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior!"

"Trap time, Yugi," chimed Kaiba smugly. "Activate—Torrential Tribute! Thanks to this handy number, I can destroy all monsters on the field when either player summons a monster."

"Oh no!"

Blue flames of energy crashed down on the field, eradicating Dark Magician, Breaker the Magical Warrior, and Kaiba's facedown monster: Peten the Dark Clown.

"Oh, and because my facedown was Peten, I can summon another Peten from my deck. It doesn't stop there, though, Yugi! I reveal my second facedown: Rope of Spirit! Now I pay 1000 life points to special summon one level four monster from my deck, like my Lord of Dragons!"

Peten the Dark Clown reappeared to the field as Lord of Dragons, or Lord of D., made his entrance as well. "Now I'm going to assume you're done with your pathetic turn and draw my card."

The eldest Kaiba brother snatched a card from his newly shuffled deck, then smirked. "First, I play my Card of Demise spell card, allowing me to take five more cards from my deck. Unfortunately, I have to discard them all if I don't use them in five turns."

Yugi looked on anxiously as Kaiba plucked five cards simultaneously from his Duel Disk.

"Oh Yugi," Kaiba taunted, "This one's a blast from the past. Or should I say; a blast from Battle City?! I play the spell card The Flute of Summoning Dragon; and thanks the rewrite of the rules, only _I _am allowed to special summon two dragon monsters from my hand while Lord of Dragons is on the field. So say hello to Divine Dragon Ragnarok and Tyrant Dragon!"

Ragnarok was no pushover, but next to the immensity of Tyrant Dragon, he was inarguably dwarfed.

"Face it Yugi; it's over. This time, _I win_."

"I reveal my facedown, Kaiba; Jar of Greed! Now I am allowed to draw one card, and that card is…Watapon! Whenever he is draw by the effect of a spell, trap, or monster, I am allowed to automatically special summon him to the field."

"Big deal; with only 200 defense points, he won't save you from my monsters. Show him, Lord of Dragons!"

—Episode 1—

"Patamon warp digivolve to!"

The small flying mammalian digimon was coated completely in a bright golden light. Around him, bright silhouettes of his other forms, Angemon and MagnaAngemon looked on, lending their power.

He felt his body transfigure, standing tall on long legs. His face morphed into that of a handsome man as a helmet slid over his face. Finally, his eight golden wings spread like knives into the air.

"Seraphimon!"

"Salamon warp digivolve to!"

Salamon, a tiny puppy-like digimon, widened her eyes as she brightened and transformed into her usual form of Gatomon, the small, white, Egyptian cat. Then she stood strong as Angewomon, extending her large white wings. Right after, she transformed into Magnadramon, a giant pink dragon with horns that could sever foes to shreds. But then something else happened. Magnadramon swirled around rapidly until she coiled herself and exploded in light. In her place stood a woman covered in bright green armor and a spectacle of golden wings like her male counter-part.

"Ophanimon!"

As the light cleared, the two angelic beings flew forth at speeds rivaling sound.

"Hurry, Seraphimon, we must stop Blackwargreymon and Malomyotismon before they destroy the Shadow Barrier! There will only be five more after this!"

"There are Devimon flanking us from behind," shouted Seraphimon as he looked over his shoulder at Ophanimon.

"We don't have enough time! And my power is fading quicker than I expected," panted Ophanimon as her flying slowed.

"You go ahead, I'll hold them off," he yelled over the cries of the Devimon.

"But Seraphimon—"

"Go, Ophanimon!" With that, Seraphimon swirled his arms in a circular motion and called out "Strike of the Seven Stars!"

Orbs of rainbow energy shot forth, exploding on impact with the first Devimon. The blast radius engulfed scores of them, but the black cloud of digimon moved steadily forward.

The green-clad Ophanimon could see Lilithmon and Daemon just up ahead, so she called out "Sefirot Crystals!"

Under the rain of Ophanimon's attack, Daemon and Lilithmon halted abruptly, glaring at their attacker. "Lilithmon, take care of our guest, will you?"

Lilithmon, a feminine demon digimon, nodded at Daemon, her masculine counterpart. "It would be my pleasure."

"Without Kari's light…my power is a mere fraction of what it should be. Oh Kari…where are you?" Ophanimon muttered to herself.

—Episode I—

"Something's wrong…" Kari Kamiya said half to herself as she sat up.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked her fiancée, T.K. Takaishi.

"I can feel it, T.K.! Something's wrong with Gatomon and the others."

T.K. frowned, sitting up in the bed as well. "What should we do?"

"Still have your digivice?"

"Always."

Kari smiled, pulling open the drawer on the bedside stand. "Let's go to the computer room. Maybe we can help!"

The two young adults pulled on their clothing as they stumbled into their computer room, garments half on. "Should we call the others?" asked T.K.

"I've been trying to get a hold of Yolei or Sora, but neither of them answered. Even Davis didn't pick up. Tai's phone is still at the bottom of his toilet, and I think Izzy still has his partly dismantled."

"I called Joe, but he was on the subway, freaking out about being called in. Matt didn't answer either, and Cody's on a plane to America for some reason."

"Guess it's just you and me," Kari said, smiling as she and her long time comrade locked eyes.

"Like old times."

The two looked toward the computer, and wishing with all their might, shouted "Digiport, Open!"

Something happened, but not what either of them were expecting. A whirling vortex appeared on the screen, sucking papers, pens, and any other desktop items in. Kari screamed over the commotion as she reached for T.K.'s hand, but he too was being pulled in.

"Fight it, Kari!"

"It's—too—strong!"

A voice so similar to Gatomon's called out for Kari, and in the instant of surprise, she weakened her grip. Immediately, the two digidestined were absorbed in the void as it zipped itself shut like a drain.

—Episode I—

"What's happening to your Negate Attack card?!" Kaiba roared over the commotion of the vortex that had created from Yugi's trap card.

"This is no hologram!" Yugi growled as he tried to pull himself away from the vortex.

"It's pulling me in!" Kaiba panicked as he was pulled into the Air. Yugi, too, was sucked in to the pool of darkness that he heard seal shut as they fell in.

—Episode I—

"I think it's safe to say that spell has gone horribly wrong!" cried Nick, the Red Mystic Ranger and leader of the Mystic Force Power Rangers.

"It looks like you tapped into some sort of…portal network," whispered Daggeron, Nick's teacher, as he neared the tear in space.

"Whatever it is, let me close it."

"Nick wait!"

But the chosen wizard known as "The Light" was already inches away from the static green portal. In a flash, he was gone.

"Whoa!" Nick exclaimed as he fell out of the portal in a mysterious home.

He looked around, trying to figure out how he'd gotten there, but found no obvious source. "It must've been that portal."

"Who are you?"

Nick spun around to meet a young man about his height with jet black hair, dark brown eyes, and a perplexing complexion.

"Uh…I…uhm…I'm Nick."

"How did you get in here?" the man pressed.

"Well…funny story. Uhm…I was walking! And, uh…this weird…_thing _sucked me into it like some kinda vortex."

The male frowned as his eyebrows furrowed. "The Invisiportals…"

"The what?"

"Nothing. Stay right here."

The newcomer scurried away, but Nick, whispering an invisibility spell, followed him anyway.

They wound up in an office of sorts, where the male in white walked to a corner of the room. He slowly held his hand out and watched as one of the portals magically appeared.

"There it is…" Nick said softly, walking toward it.

Out of nowhere, the portal began to become violently unstable, thrusting books and chairs around the room as it vacuumed them to its mouth.

Nick's spell instantly vanished. "What did you do?"

"What did YOU do?" the stranger yelled before a stray chair hit his leg, pushing him into the vortex. Nick had a feeling this one was going to be very different than the last portal he was in as the dark hole pulled him into the abyss.

—Episode I—

"This is all your fault, you fool!" spat Seto Kaiba as he dusted off his blazer.

"Kaiba, I swear; I have no idea where we are or _how _we got here."

"Save it, Yugi. The only reason we're here is because you knew I was going to beat you next turn, so you staged another one of your little hocus pocus magic tricks. Now let me out!"

"Kaiba, listen to me! Don't you realize we could be dealing with something far beyond our comprehension? Vortexes don't just appear in Duel Monsters games."

"Exactly, which is why I intend to find the slacker that let this virus into my Duel System, and make him _pay_."

Before Yugi could respond, the scream of a young woman pierced the sky. Moments later, a young blond woman came bounding out of the forest, her clothes tattered and her face scratched.

"Help me, please!" she called to the two duelists.

"What's going on?" Yugi demanded.

"I think we're about to find out!" Kaiba exclaimed.

An enormous dinosaur reared its head from the trees as it bellowed into the air.

"That's MetalTyrannomon, an Ultimate Level digimon with a bad metallic makeover and even worse manners. His attack is Giga Destroyer II which'll make you wish you'd never met him!"

"I'm charmed, but let's get out of here!"

Yugi and the young girl followed Kaiba's lead as they took off down the beaten path.

"Is that thing a Duel Monster, Yugi? Because if so," Kaiba slid to a stop and activated his Duel Disk, "_I don't run from losers!_"

Yugi and the newcomer looked on as Kaiba pulled forth a card.

"This is why you're extinct, metalhead! Come forth, _Blue-Eyes White Dragon_!"

In a stream of lightning, the beauteous dragon graced the woods with its presence, letting out its signature cry as it stared down its enemy.

"Show that second-rate dino who's at the top of the food chain: White Lightning!"

The white dragon fired its laser-like attack, annihilating the digimon's Giga Destroyer II missile and whipping it out of existence.

"That was so amazing!" the woman cheered, hugging the unsuspecting Kaiba.

"Do you think we've somehow been transported to another virtual world, Kaiba?" asked Yugi. "Or maybe even the Shadow Realm?"

The girl stopped hugging Kaiba and looked at Yugi. "Virtual world? No, this is the _Digital _World. And what the heck's a Shadow Realm?"

"Digital, Virtual; it's all the same. Where's the digital exit so I can digitally ditch this place?"

"Don't you think I've been trying to get of here? I've been stuck here for three days! My clothes smell like dirt!" she cried.

The three looked up at the sky as thunderous booms made way for a wormhole to spit out two people on one side, and two more people on the other side.

"Who are they?" Yugi wondered as he jogged over the boy and girl with strange pagers in their hands. "Are you two alright?"

"Just a little dizzy," the male groaned.

"Where are we? Who are you?" wondered the female.

"I'm Yugi. We're in some sort of digital world, according to this girl over there."

"I'm T.K., this is Kari. Are you a Digidestined too?"

"A what?"

"Hey, Yugi!"

Yugi looked over to where Kaiba was administering to the anonymous males who had fallen out of the sky.

Yugi, with T.K. and Kari in tow, jogged over to Kaiba and the mysterious girl, who were both talking to the men.

"Get a load of this, Yugi: apparently, these two guys are _Power Rangers_, and this girl Zoe is a digimon."

"You're a digimon?" Kari questioned.

"What's a digimon?" asked one of the men.

"Wait, wait, wait; everyone just calm down. Let's get some introductions going first. I'm T.K., and this is Kari. We're digidestined from Japan."

"My name is Yugi Moto; I am a duelist also from Japan."

"I don't need to introduce myself; you all know me, already. I am Seto Kaiba, owner of the world's largest gaming company, KaibaCorp."

"I'm Zoe Orimoto, a Legendary Warrior of the Wind Spirit and I _am _a digimon."

Kaiba ignored the tone of defiance at the end of her sentence.

"I'm Nick, the Red Mystic Ranger from Briarwood, California."

"And I'm Trent Mercer, son of Anton Mercer from Reefside, California. I'm also the former White Drago Ranger."

"Zoe, you say you're a digimon? How?" T.K. asked.

"Well, about seven years ago, some friends and I were transported to the digital world. When we arrived, we were all given spirits of the ten legendary warriors to guard; mine was wind. I was able to Spirit Evolve into Kazemon or Zephyrmon."

"Spirit Evolve? What does she mean by that, T.K.?"

T.K. shrugged at Kari's answer. "We're digidestined. Instead of becoming digimon, we were given digimon partners who could digivolve using our digivices." He held up his D3 as Zoe pulled out her D-Tector.

"Weird…they look similar."

"This is all fascinating and everything, but what does any of this have to do with me?" Kaiba interrupted.

"It looks like we were all accidentally brought here," Nick chimed in. "We all have weird gadgets, too. I have my Mystic Morpher, and I'm sure Trent has a morpher. These three have their Digi things, and you two have your weird sword bracelets."

"They're Duel Disks, numbskull. And they're not some supposed magical device, either."

"Well they tapped into something otherworldly," Trent finally spoke up. "I say we start looking for an exit so we can all get back to our respective homes."

"I agree with Trent. You guys should all head home; we'll take care of the digital stuff."

"What are you talking about, dweeb? Digital stuff?" Kaiba shot back at T.K.

"Kari and I came here to find out what was wrong with our Digimon. I know Zoe can vouch that the Digital World is not supposed to look like this."

"He's right," Zoe responded. "When I came here, I was trying to connect my D-Tector to my computer's USB so I could get pictures of the Digital World off it. The next thing I knew, some weird vortex was pulling me into my computer screen. I met a kid a while back, but I'm not sure where he is now."

"What was his name?" T.K. demanded, "He might be one of us!"

"Jade? Jason?"

"Jaden!?" Kaiba and Yugi shouted simultaneously.

"That's it!"

"Jaden mysteriously disappeared about a week ago without a trace. Both his duel disk and deck were gone, and his room was left a mess. Now that I think about it, I think I remember Crowler mentioning his computer was fried, too!"

Yugi looked to Kaiba. "Do you think this could be some sort of attack?"

"Get real. Obviously someone wants to pick a fight with me, so they steal my school's top student and ruin my match with you to reclaim my title. It's simple, really. All I have to do is beat this wimp in a duel and be on my way."

"You're forgetting one thing, _Seto_: this is the digital world, not some Duel Monsters fantasy land. These monsters are real, and if you're not careful, you'll be torn to shreds by them. You should stick with me and Kari so we can protect you from them."

"Listen here, blondie," Kaiba fired, "I don't need protection from anyone. Not you, or your little girlfriend. My deck is all I need to get me where I need to go, and I don't need _you _telling _me_ what's real or not. My Blue-Eyes was mighty real when I summoned it to kick that scrapheap dinosaur's sorry ass back to the recycle bin of this digital dump. So you can save your bravery speech for someone who needs it. I'm out of here."

"Kaiba, wait!" Yugi called out as he jogged after him.

"Let them go," T.K. said angrily, "We don't need them anyway."

"But what he said was true, T.K.," Zoe said, biting her lip. "For some reason, I was unable to spirit evolve, but Kaiba could summon his Blue-Eyes White Dragon like it was nothing. He even took out MetalTyrannomon with one shot."

"Maybe we should just follow them," Nick suggested. "They're probably going to find that Jaden kid, and I'm sure you guys could find your digimon partners somewhere around here, too."

"He's right, T.K.," Kari said.

"Alright, let's go."


	2. Duelmon? Part I, Darkness Falls

_Episode II: Duelmon? Part I—Darkness Falls_

"We've been walking for _hours_. Can't we take a small break?" Zoe asked, her shoulder slumping.

"I never asked for you freaks to follow me in the first place," spat Seto Kaiba.

"Wait!"

The group of mismatches looked to Kari Kamiya as she looked around.

"I feel something…it feels like…"

"K-Kari…"

"Gatomon!"

The group ran after Kari, who took off toward a dark patch of shrubbery. As they got closer, they could see the outline of a small white feline, her fur muddy and worn. Next to her was a small digimon resembling a noseless dog with large ears.

"Patamon!"

"Are these your partners?" asked Trent as he helped T.K. look over Patamon.

"Oh Patamon…" whispered T.K. "We should have been here sooner!"

"T.K….is that you?"

"Patamon!"

"We walked miles to find a torn up kitty cat and a pig with bat ears?"

Kaiba was sprawling on the ground in mere seconds, his cheek swollen and red from TK's fist.

"You can insult me all you want you spoiled brat, but don't you dare talk about Patamon that way!"

"T.K., please," murmured Kari as she rubbed Gatomon softly. "Tell us what happened, Gatomon."

"Well, a few years back, Patamon and I learned how to warp digivolve like Agumon and Gabumon so we could transform into Seraphimon and Ophanimon whenever we needed. We got so good at it that we ended up stuck like that!"

"Wait, you're Ophanimon?" Zoe interrupted.

Gatomon gasped, "You're the Legendary Warrior of Wind!"

"Yeah, that's right; she helped Bokomon and Neemon take care of me when I was digitized by Mercurymon."

"Patamon, what are you talking about?" T.K. asked, confused.

"It's a long story, but we'll explain later. What I was trying to say was that Patamon and I worked with Willis's Cocomon as Cherubimon; from there, we were able to protect the digital world. It worked for a while, especially after the legendary warriors restored balance. But after the digital world was destroyed, the Nine Barriers of Direction were destabilized. Everything went crazy!"

"Barriers of Direction? Why have we never heard of this before?" Kari asked.

"There's one for each Cardinal Direction, Kari. The left over one is for the Origin of Direction," said Patamon as he shook some mud away.

"The Barriers are usually invisible and completely undetectable, but after the battle with Lucemon, a bunch of evil digimon got it in their heads to destroy the barriers so we could freely travel between the Digital World, your world, and any other world connected to both of our worlds," finished Gatomon.

"And you tried to stop them," said Yugi, admiration strong in his voice.

"We tried, but when Cherubimon was…when Cherubimon was destroyed, our powers were cut down exponentially. Then, the dark digimon learned to warp digivolve as well, producing Daemon, Lilithmon, and a bunch of other nasty party guests."

T.K. turned to Gatomon. "Well with our Digivices, you should be more than powerful enough to take them down."

"I'm afraid not, T.K. The barrier they were after was the Barrier of the Abyss."

"Don't be foolish. The Barrier of the Abyss is a Duel Monsters card that prevents Dark-attribute monsters from being special summoned."

Gatomon blinked. "Duel monsters?"

"It's a card game we play back in our world," Yugi said, helping her remove some mud from her gloves.

"Thanks," she muttered. "Well, that may be so, but without the Barrier of the Abyss, the power of dark digimon increases dramatically. The only hope we have is to seek out the DD Avatar."

"DD Avatar?" repeated Nick, "What's that?"

"It's an oracle type digimon, at least we think, who can help us save the digital world."

"What's the DD stand for?" questioned Trent.

"Not a clue," squeaked Patamon as he flapped his ear-wings, "But we need her nonetheless. Come on, let's go!"

"Maybe this DD Avatar is the one I'm supposed to duel," Kaiba said mostly to himself.

"I think there's more at play here than dueling, Kaiba," replied Yugi quietly.

—Episode II—

"Daemon, look! It's Gatomon and Patamon. And they're with humans!"

Daemon's glowing eyes swiveled toward Demidevimon's claw, which was pointing at the mystical vision portal. Sure enough, a group of seven humans were wandering through the edges of the forest toward the mountains. With them were Gatomon and Patamon."

"Send out the Armor Digimon squad; it will shake up Patamon and Gatomon to have to fight digimon who resemble their old allies," hissed Daemon.

"Right away, sir!"

The flying ball darted away as he went to complete his orders.

"Soon, I'll be rid of the Celestial Digimon and I'll finally be able to destroy the Barrier of the Heavens," Daemon purred to himself. He waved his hand and the image on the portal changed. "Lilithmon, have you destroyed the Barrier of the Inferno yet?"

Lilithmon came into view, smirking. "Sir, you're rather behind, aren't you? I've already destroyed Barrier of the Inferno _and _Barrier of the Stormwinds."

A loud explosion, followed by an enormous geyser burst of water shot up from behind her.

"Oh, and Leviamon just destroyed the Barrier of the Torrent."

"Perfect! Then they're almost all gone. Now we just have to find the Barriers of Destiny and Faith. Beelzemon informed me that he's already destroyed Barrier of the Drought. And once my Armor Digimon have destroyed the Celestial Beings, the Barrier of the Heavens will be long gone."

—Episode II—

Sunset had just begun by the time the group began their ascent of Mount Avatar. Gatomon and Patamon recounted the tale of the Legendary Warriors with Zoe intermittently clearing up discrepancies and adding in anecdotes. Kaiba and Yugi listened intently, though the former did his best to appear uninterested. Nick and Trent, who were no strangers to the forces of nature and mysterious powers, nodded and asked questions, all while trying to stay informed.

"We're here," said Patamon happily as he flapped in place.

"Patamon, look out!"

He barely dodged the large spinning drills that flew through the air and exploded moments later.

"What was that?!" shouted Trent.

"Look up there!" pointed Kaiba.

Near the Sanctuary atop the mountain was a "fleet" of sorts, of digimon.

"It's Digmon!" called Kari.

"And Flamedramon," added T.K.

"And there's a Halsemon, too," said Zoe.

Kari and T.K. ran forward happily, waving and shouting at their comrades…until Flamedramon cried out "Fire Rocket!"

The scorching whips of flame barely missed the two digidestined as Trent and Nick tackled them to the ground.

"I don't think those are your friends!" pointed out Zoe as she, Kaiba, and Yugi dodged Halsemon's Eagle Eye attack.

"C'mon Kaiba, let's show them how we do it back home!"

The two duelists slid to a halt, activated their duel disks, and shouted "Go!"

"Paladin of White Dragon, take out that feathered freak!"

"Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl!"

The three Duel Monsters shimmered into appearance as they took on their foes.

"Patamon," said T.K.

"Gatomon," chimed in Kari.

"It's your turn!" the two chorused.

"Patamon digivolve to…Angemon!"

"Gatomon digivolve to…Angewomon!"

The two angel digimon burst forth from the light of their digivolutions and went to aid the duel monsters, who weren't fairing so well.

"Hand of Fate, hah!" shouted Angemon.

"Celestial Arrow!" continued Angewomon.

Flamedramon jumped to the side of Angemon's attack, and Digmon tunneled away from Angewomon's.

"Kari, I'm still too tired from my last battle. I-I can't go on with this form."

Angewomon began to glow before she retreated from the sky in a beam of light, returning as Gatomon.

"Angemon, look out!" T.K. called. But it was too late. Digmon's Gold Rush attack hit Angemon in his back, sending him reeling.

"Tempest Wing!" growled Halsemon, swirling into a tornado and slamming into Angemon's plummeting form.

Angemon quickly dedigivolved to Patamon, who whimpered an apology to T.K.

"Everyone, quick, inside!" shouted Trent as he and Nick took cover in the sanctuary.

"Our monsters will only hold them off for so long; and if they're destroyed, Kaiba and I will both share their injuries," Yugi informed the others as Zoe and Nick barricaded the door.

"Agh!" cried Kaiba as he clutched his chest, his Paladin of White Dragon card glowing on his duel disk.

"His Paladin!" noticed Yugi.

"Yugi, quick, call back your Magicians!"

"What?"

Before he could listen to Kaiba's advice, both his Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl began to glow on his duel disk. Moments later, Yugi grasped his arm as the injuries of his monsters transferred to him.

"There goes our defense," Trent muttered.

"Not quite," Kaiba growled, throwing down three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Yugi Summoned a Buster Blader and his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, hoping for the best.

"We don't have much time, you two," Nick warned the digidestined.

"Avatar, if you're here, please, we need your help. Come forth and offer your guidance!"

A faint glow grew and grew until it formed the torso and head of a woman with clear eyes.

"Welcome, Barrier Chosen," she spoke, her voice like divine thunder. "I am the Digi Duelist Avatar, creator of Duel Monsters and Mother of Digimon alike."

"What?!" Kaiba called out. "That's impossible."

"I am the first 'code' written for the Digital Program that began the procreation of Digimon; simultaneously, my Digital Code is identical to the Hieroglyphs of the first Duel Monster."

"Wow," Yugi sighed, "This is history in the making!"

"I have summoned you all here because the Barriers of Direction need their guardians. Each of you has previously harnessed one-of-three Destiny Makers: Duel Monster Spirits, Digimon and Digivices, and Morphers. It will take all three to protect the barriers and restore the balance of not only the universe, but of every dimension fathomable."

"But what can we do? My Morpher doesn't work here and neither does my magic. So far, only Kaiba and Yugi have been able to do anything."

A screech was heard from outside and one of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes faded. He bit back a yell, but flinched slightly.

"You must travel to the former locations of each Barrier: currently, I hold half the power of the Barrier of Destiny and the Barrier of Faith."

"So you're saying each of us has to guard one of the Barriers?" Yugi asked.

"Precisely. So far, one Barrier Guardian has already received his Digimon partner and his DigiDuel Morpher."

"A DigiDuel Morpher?" asked Trent.

"It will allow each of you to help your digimon partner digivolve, as well as hold your Duel Monsters deck. Lastly, by activating your Morpher mode, swiping your chosen card, and calling out 'Digital Summon, Barrier Guardian,' you can morph into a DigiDuel Ranger."

"You've _got _to be kidding me," Kaiba said, rolling his eyes.

"It is no joke, Mr. Kaiba, I assure you. This threat is very real and we haven't the time to waste. I will now disclose your barrier locations to you and bestow half the power of the Barriers of Destiny and Faith to their guardians."

The group tensed as another cry from a Blue-Eyes marked the decrease of Yugi's Buster Blader's attack, and the loss of more of Kaiba's energy.

"Yugi Moto, you are the guardian of the Barrier of the Abyss." She waved her hand and his Duel Disk transformed into a much smaller form with only one monster space visible. It instantly extended forward, going past his hand like a blade. It was black and purple in color, and his deck shined as his monsters morphed to fit the Abyss Barrier's power. "You will find your deck has grown much more powerful in strength. I encourage you to never summon your duel monster cards again, for when you do, if they are destroyed, they will never return from the graveyard."

Yugi nodded. He pulled his Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and Dark Magician back to his deck and saw Kaiba return his last Blue-Eyes.

"Seto Kaiba, the powers of the Barrier of Heaven belong to you." Like Yugi, his duel disk transformed, as did his deck. His DigiDuel Morpher was white and blue in color, almost like the previous duel disk.

"Nick, Zoe, Trent; I suggest each of you practice diligently with Kaiba and Yugi so you may learn the game of Duel Monsters." As she spoke, their wrists began to glow as DigiDuel Morphers appeared; Crimson and yellow for Nick, blue and navy blue for Trent, and green and white for Zoe. "Your decks will follow the barrier properties of the Barrier of the Inferno, Barrier of the Stormwinds, and Barrier of the Torrent, respectively."

The three observed the devices on their left arms as their decks glimmered into the appropriate slot. Each one took them out to observe them.

"Lastly, T.K. and Kari, it is to you that I bestow the powers of Faith and Destiny. Though I do not possess your decks or your Morpher energy, I do carry new Digital Codes for Patamon and Gatomon."

Patamon and Gatomon exchanged looks of glee.

"New Digital Codes?" T.K. asked as a ball of light appeared in front of him.

Kari held her hands out and cupped the energy, which attached to her left wrist and formed a silver and pink DigiDuel Morpher. She looked over at T.K. who now had a gold and black DigiDuel Morpher.

"You will receive your decks when you find the Barriers of Destiny and Faith," said the Avatar. "Now go, my heroes. You will find your partner, guardian of the Barrier of the Drought, outside holding off the Armor Digimon with his digimon partner. When you activate your DigiDuel Morphers for the first time, your digimon partners will appear in their In-training stages. TK, Kari, when you activate yours, your digimon will dedigivolved to their new In-training forms."

"In-training?" asked Seto.

"It's the form right below the one Patamon's in," T.K. explained.

A loud explosion rocked the sanctuary and Yugi could swear he heard a person outside call out to another person.

"Let's go! We must hurry and help our new partner," Yugi demanded.

"Thank you, Avatar," Kari said, her voice solemn. "I promise you, we will bring balance back to this world."

With that, the new team ran forth from the sanctuary's side exit, ready to faceoff against the Armor Digimon.

Once outside, Kaiba and Yugi had to do a double take. There was Jaden with his new signature hair style covering one of his eyes. He was wearing an orange, duster-like jacket, and attached to his left arm was an orange and brown DigiDuel Morpher.

"Jaden!" Kaiba and Yugi exclaimed.

The young duelist looked to his left, a huge smile appearing on his face when he saw them. "Hey, guys!"

A small, masked figure came crashing in next to Jaden, pulling his attention back to the battle.

"Heromon! Are you okay?"

"Just a little bruised, bro. But they're Armor level digimon and I'm only a rookie. I think it's time to get your game on."

"Alright! Here goes something!"

Jaden pressed the first button on his duel disk as he and Heromon began to glow orange.

"Heromon digivolve to!"

The scarf on his neck extended down his back to form a billowing orange cape. The horn-like adornment on his head extended back and into the air like a fin, and his mouth disappeared. His body became pure white with a large orange orb on its chest. Two gauntlets appeared on his arms and legs, and his eyes shone a bright blue as his body grew in height and musculature.

"Protonmon!"

"Whoa! He digivolved," TK admired.

"Into champion," noted Kari.

"We should do the same thing," Zoe said. "After all, it's still one on three."

"Zoe's right. It's time to digivolve!" said Yugi as he pressed the button on Morpher. His deck began to glow with a black light until a beam shot out of it. He looked over at the others and saw the same thing happening for Kaiba, Nick, Zoe, and Trent.

"Hexyumon!" announced Yugi's digimon, a black bouncing ball digimon wearing a magician's hat.

"Microdramon!" called out Kaiba's digimon, a small, white, armless, dragon type digimon with small wings.

"Embermon!" squeaked Nick's digimon, a feathery, red ball digimon with large green eyes and tiny wings.

"Vientomon!" Zoe's furry digimon said, its tuft of green hair waving playfully.

"Fangmon!" the digimon resembling a large, spiny snake and belonging to Trent sang.

"Wow, that's a nice entrance," TK said.

"It's our turn now, Kari!" Gatomon reminded them.

Kari and TK nodded as they pressed the buttons on their Morphers. Silver and gold lights hit Gatomon and Patamon respectfully as they dedigivolved to Nyaromon and Tokomon.

"You guys ready to kick it up a notch?" asked Nick as he stood next to his Embermon.

"You know it!" TK answered.

"Digivolution summoning!" they all chorused.

"Hexyumon digivolve to!" Hexyumon suddenly sprouted legs and arms, his hat turning into a hooded cloak that covered his mouth. His green eyes stared out from under the hood and he spun around once before revealing his new and usual name: "Sagemon!"

"Microdramon digivolve to!" Kaiba's little dragon digimon grew small but strong arms as his wings extended to flight-length. A helmet of ridges appeared on his head that covered his mouth and extended all the way down his back and down his tail. He let out a sonic screech as he called out "Weissdramon!"

"Embermon digivolve to!" The tiny wings sprouted into arm-like wings as he developed a beak. Two legs sprouted forth, but his green eyes remained, now more mystical than before. Three tails extended like tendrils, each the length of the new body belonging to: "Nephthymon!"

"Vientomon digivolve to!" Its tuft of hair becoming long red locks and its new arms sporting razor sharp talons and green feathers, Vientomon took on the form of a female as its legs became long and ended with talons. A mask covered her mouth but extended up and off her ears in feathers. "TalonZephyrmon!"

"Fangmon digivolve to!" Fangmon's body enlarged as he grew amphibious legs and a long tail. His nose became hard and horn-like as spiky ridges rode all the way down his back. His eyes glowed yellow and returned to a normal, bluish color as he hissed out "Dracomon!"

"Nyaromon digivolve to!" Nyaromon quickly transformed to Salamon, the long-eared puppy digimon. But then her ears flew up and split, looking similar to butterfly wings. Two large fairy wings sprouted from her back as two tails shot out. Her face altered slightly as a small tiara appeared around her forehead. "NovaSalamon!"

"Tokomon digivolve to!" Instead of stopping at his usual Patamon form, his ears shot straight back like lightning bolts and a helmet appeared on his head that extended off his face but left slits for his eyes. His arms and legs extended, causing him to resemble a large dog. Next, two sharp blades shot forth from his back reminiscent of swords but wing-like as well. "KnightPatamon!"

TK and Kari were blown away by their new digimon, and the others, who had never had digimon partners, were just as amazed.

"Alright! Nice of you guys to finally join the party!" Jaden exclaimed as Protonmon shouted "Proton Fission!"

"Alright guys, time to take these posers out," TK said, regaining his battle expertise. "KnightPatamon, you Nephthymon, and Weissdramon take on Halsemon."

"Go, Weissdramon!" Kaiba shouted.

"Help them out Nephthymon!" demanded Nick.

The three winged digimon shot off the ground at full speed to play chicken with Halsemon.

"Sagemon, help the others take down Flamedramon!" Yugi ordered.

"You too, TalonZephyrmon!" said Zoe.

"Get in there, Dracomon!" Trent joined in.

"Let's go, NovaSalamon!" Kari said.

The other digimon ran toward Flamedramon as Protonmon grappled with Digmon.

As the battle dragged on, it became obvious the digimon and their new partners had a long way to go. Nonetheless, they were able to pull together to form their special attacks.

"It's time to end this!" Yugi growled. "Sagemon, attack with Dark Burning Attack!"

Sagemon jumped back from Flamedramon and thrust his hand forward, blasting the reptilian digimon back with a wave of dark flaming magic. "Dark Burning Attack!"

"Hurricane Impact!" called TalonZephyrmon, swiping her claws outward and causing energy slashes to impact on Flamedramon.

"Dragon Typhoon!" hollered Dracomon, bullets of water shooting from his mouth.

"Mystic Howl!" NovaSalamon finished up, a shockwave of energy finishing off Flamedramon.

"Hey, up there! Finish off that flying rooster!" Kaiba called.

"Weiss Blitz!" Weissdramon screamed so he could hurl lightning energy from his wings.

"Boom Blades!" growled Knight Patamon, his wing blades sending out energy cutters.

"Phoenix Ember!" Nephthymon ended, whipping his tail in a tornado blast of fire. The blasts combined and digitized Halsemon in a flash.

"Proton Fission!" Protonmon wrapped up as he clapped his hands together and formed a ball of energy around Digmon. Upon separating his hands, Protonmon destroyed the ball and Digmon along with it.

He quickly dedigivolved, a beam of light retreating to Jaden's DigiDuel Disk.

"And that's game!" the Orange clad duelist said with a chuckle.


	3. Duelmon? Part II, Light Breaks

_Episode III: Duelmon? Part II—Light Breaks_

Trent examined the cards in his hand. According to Kaiba, dragons were some of the most powerful monsters in the game of Duel Monsters. Dracomon, Trent's new digimon partner, had told him he was born of the spirit of Levia Dragon – Daedalus. He and Weissdramon, Kaiba's digimon partner, were apparently brothers, which made Trent and Kaiba pretty close.

Well, as close as you can get with Kaiba. The famous duelist had given Trent a brief lesson on dueling, explaining each card to Trent in detail and strategic manners. Now it was time to put that knowledge to use.

The team had set up camp in a clearing in the forest where the digimon slept or chattered quietly around the fire with their new partners. Trent and Nick, who Yugi had taught a thing or two about dueling, had chosen to try their dueling skills.

"Alright, I'll start things off," Nick said from across the clearing. "I summon Darkfire Soldier #1 in attack mode."

The muscle-bound shirtless creature appeared on the field with a rage of fire swirling around him, his 1700 attack points appearing on a screen next to him.

"Then, I'll lay two face-downs and call it a turn."

Trent looked at the five cards in his hand as he pulled a sixth.

"I play Gagagigo in attack mode!" he announced. A reptilian warrior flashed onto the field, 1850 attack points next to him. "Attack his Darkfire Soldier, Gagagigo!"

"I play a face-down!" Nick shouted.

"What?"

"Fire Art – Kurenai! Now I sacrifice my Darkfire Soldier to inflict damage to your life points equal to his original attack, which is 1700!"

Trent's eyes widened as the blaze of fire surrounding Darkfire Soldier intensified and engulfed him. His life points declined to 6300 as he looked past the smoke.

"Excellent move, Nick," Yugi said.

"I play a card face down and end my turn," Trent muttered, embarrassed.

Nick drew his card, smirked, then said, "I reveal my other face-down card: Bad Reaction to Simochi! Now every time you _should _increase your life points, you'll decrease them instead."

Trent furrowed his eyebrows. "But I'm not increasing my life points."

"But I am. Or should I say, I was going to? I play Rain of Mercy, which increases both players' life points by 1000. But, thanks to my Simochi, you lose 1000 instead."

Trent cringed as the rain that fell upon him burned at him mildly.

"Then I activate Upstart Goblin, which allows me to draw one card as long as I give you 1000 life points. But…that's where good old Simochi comes in again and takes that 1000 from your life points."

Again, Trent flinched. His life points dropped to a mere 4300 in less than 30 seconds.

"Now it's time for the good part. I activate my Molten Destruction field card, which will now give all FIRE monsters an extra 500 points of firepower, like to my Solar Flare Dragon!"

The creature roared onto the scene, flames dancing off its scaly skin. Its usual 1500 attack points boosted up to 2000 thanks to Nick's field spell.

"Remove his lizard from the field with Solar Wind!"

"Wrong! I activate my face-down trap card: Waboku! It takes your attack and nullifies it, saving my monster from being destroyed and keeping my life points safe too."

"Not quite. See, Solar Flare Dragon has a nice little effect. At the end of every one of my turns, he takes out a 500 life point bonus from you just for being on the field."

Trent's face didn't betray his shock as Solar Flare Dragon thrust a heat wave at him. 3800 left.

"I gotta turn this around," Trent muttered to himself as he drew.

"I set two cards facedown, then I sacrifice my faithful Gagagigo to summon Mobius the Frost Monarch, and when he's summoned, he puts two of your spell or trap cards on ice. So say goodbye to Bad Reaction to Simochi and Molten Destruction!"

Mobius threw two icicles at the cards, destroying them immediately and returning the forest to its usual state.

"Now take out his Dragon!" Trent ordered. The monarch wasted no time in using his 2400 attack points to pummel Solar Flare Dragon, knocking Nick's life points down to 6950.

"That'll end my turn."

Nick selected a card from the top of his deck and reflected on the two cards in his hand.

"I summon Flame Ruler in defense mode and place a card facedown. That'll do for now."

"I discard my Warrior of Atlantis to bring my Legendary Ocean field spell to my hand and then activate it."

Instantly the field was turned into a holographic representation of an underwater scene.

"Then I summon my Hydrogeddon in attack mode." A beast composed of white water appeared on the field, the waves on it constantly fluctuating. "Thanks to a Legendary Ocean, all WATER monsters get a 200 point increase from his 1600 points to a nice 1800, and Mobius goes from 2400 to 2600! So Hydrogeddon, attack his Flame Ruler!"

Hydrogeddon smashed the Flame Ruler and its 1600 defense points and left Nick's life points wide open.

"Thanks to his special ability, anytime Hydrogeddon destroys one of your monsters in battle, I can summon another one from my deck or hand. So now, Mobius, show him how its done, monarch style. Hydrogeddon 2, you get in there too!"

"Go, trap card! Firewall!"

"Firewall?"

"That's right. If I remove Pyro-type monsters from my graveyard, like Darkfire Soldier #1 and Solar Flare Dragon, I can negate any direct attack."

"Convenient," Trent mumbled. "I throw down a facedown and end my turn."

"Perfect! I activate Swords of Revealing Light, which'll hold your monsters in place for three full turns, preventing them from attacking me. Now I pay 500 life points to keep my Firewall active and end my turn."

"I summon Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness in attack mode."

"But how? That's a 5-star monster! He requires a tribute."

"Not with A Legendary Ocean in play. See, it downgrades all my monsters by one level as long as it's on the field."

"Wow."

"So I'll just let my monsters chill for now."

"Allow me to turn up the heat, then! I pay my 500 life points, then throw a card facedown. That's all for now."

"Funny, I thought you said something about turning up the heat? I summon Oxygeddon in attack mode and call it a turn."

"Not yet. I activate my face down; Life Absorbing Machine. Now, each time I pay life points, I gain half of them back." Nick's life points rose from 5950 to 6200.

"Now, watch closely. I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Flame Ruler. Then I sacrifice him using his ability to act as two tributes for any FIRE monster instead of one, in order to summon Infernal Flame Emperor."

The great fiery beast stood tall over Trent, his 2700 attack points just enough to take out Mobius.

"But that's not all. See when he's successfully summoned, I can remove up to five FIRE monsters from my grave to destroy any number of spell or trap cards. So I send Flame Ruler away to take out that ocean of yours."

Flame Emperor's flaming fist destroyed Trent's spell card, once again returning them to the forest.

By now, Zoe, TK, and Kari had come over with Jaden to watch the duel. Kaiba and Yugi were relatively quiet, and the digimon were all but asleep from their exciting first day.

"Now destroy his monarch, Flame Emperor!"

In a puff of smoke, Mobius was gone, as were 300 of Trent's life points, leaving him at 3500.

"That'll do for now."

"Bad move, Nick. You should've taken out my Hydrogeddons or at least my Oxygeddon. Because now I activate Bonding – H20, which allows me to send one Oxygeddon and two Hydrogeddons to the grave to special summon my Water Dragon!"

An enormous serpentine dragon made entirely of rushing blue water erupted from the ground, bearing down on the Flame Emperor.

"Then I reveal another facedown; my dust tornado, which spins your Firewall off the field. Now Water Dragon, destroy his emperor!"

A geyser of water shot forth from the great dragon's mouth, eradicating the emperor.

Nick's life points dropped to 3700.

"What happened?" he asked, bewildered.

"Oh, Water Dragon's special ability happened. I forgot to tell you that when he's on the field, the attack of all FIRE and pyro-type monsters becomes zero."

Nick stared, "Unbelievable."

"Don't forget about my Orca!"

"Come on Nick, you can still pull through!" Jaden cheered. Kaiba gave him a sideways glance but otherwise remained silent.

"I draw, then pay 250 life points, and then set one card facedown."

Trent stared in disbelief. "Your life points are hardly even above 2000 and you're not going to summon a monster?"

"I don't have one," Nick said.

Trent drew his card, shaking his head. "Well I discard my Warrior of Atlantis again to bring another Legendary Ocean to my hand. Then I activate it. With no pyros in your grave, your Firewall won't be able to protect you…"

"Go ahead, then, Trent; what are you waiting for?" Nick taunted.

"Absolutely nothing! Go, Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness, attack his life points directly!"

"Nope; go Mirror Force!"

Trent's attack reflected off an invisible force as it crashed back into his Water Dragon and his Orca, destroying them.

"Mirror Force destroys all your attack position monsters once you declare an attack," Nick explained.

"That's all fine and dandy, but this is still over. Water Dragon's special ability allows me to summon two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon from my graveyard once he's destroyed and sent to the grave. And with each of them with 1800 attack points, this duel is finished."

"Wow…that was played just like a pro," Jaden noted.

"Of course it was," Kaiba said curtly, "I taught him."

"Great job, Trent! You play like a natural," hissed Dracomon to his partner.

Nick walked over to Trent, solemnly shaking his hand. "Good game."

"You too," Trent replied happily.

Nephthymon, a tall, three-tailed, red-feathered humanoid-bird digimon, headed over to his defeated partner.

"You played well, Nick," he said, his voice reminiscent of some washed up surfer dude.

"Not well enough. What's wrong with my deck? I was left completely defenseless!"

The two had walked some distance from the campsite now and the red ranger's temper was more than flaring.

"You don't believe in your cards, Nick."

"What?"

"Your deck works a lot like your magic; you have to _believe _in it in order to use it, dude."

Nick cocked an eyebrow. "Interesting."

"Just ask Yugi; he's been the King of Games for quite some time now."

"He taught me a lot, but I still lost. We have very different styles of playing, I think. In fact, I think _I _play more like Kaiba than Trent does."

"I saw that, bro."

"…did you just call me bro?"

"Yeah?"

"Where did you come from, Orange County?"

"Primary Village."

Nick blinked several times, opened his mouth to speak, but then just stopped, walking back to camp.

"I'll start things off with a monster face-down in defense mode," Zoe was saying as a horizontal card appeared in front of her. "Then I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn."

"I see you're pickin up on my lingo," Jaden retorted cockily. "Let's see if you can pick up on my moves! I summon Elemental Hero Neos Alius to the field in attack mode!"

A smaller, teenage form of Elemental Hero Neos, off which Heromon was based, appeared to the field with 1900 attack points.

"Go, Alius! Destroy her facedown monster with Neos Force!"

Neos Alius jumped forward and thrust a fist down at the horizontal card in front of Zoe. It immediately reconfigured into a large insect that was smashed by the mighty Elemental Hero.

"Bad move, Jay. See, when Flying Kamakiri #1 is sent to the grave as a result of battle, I get to Special Summon one WIND monster with an attack of 1500 or less. And I choose Harpie Lady 1!"

The redheaded beast spread her deadly but beautiful wings attached to her arms as she crooned lethally. Her 1300 attack points quickly jumped to 1600, causing Jaden some mild confusion.

"I could be wrong, but don't Harpies have an attack of 1300? Why did it jump up?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you! Harpie Lady 1 increases the attack of all WIND type monsters by 300 points," Zoe replied.

"Hm…interesting. Well, I'm throwin down a facedown and passing it over to you now."

"Very well. I draw my card, and then summon another Harpie Lady 1. Then I'll play the spell card _Elegant Egotist_! This pretty number lets me special summon yet another Harpie Lady 1. And since each one gives WIND monsters a 300-point boost, they each have 2200 attack points. That 2200 is boosted to 2500 when I summon my last Harpie Lady 1 in attack position! Now I set a facedown and then attack your Alius Neos with my first Harpie!"

"Not quite! I've got a trap! It's called Threatening Roar, and when it's played, you can't declare an attack this turn."

"Oh, sorpresa! Well I end my turn, then."

"Alright! Time to get my game on! I Gemini Summon my Elemental Hero Neos Alius to treat him as Elemental Hero Neos."

"Not exactly. I play Harpie's Featherstorm. When your monster activates an effect, I can negate the effect and destroy the effect monster. So bye-bye Neos."

Jaden's monster shattered in front of him as he flinched.

"Alright, then I play the spell card Emergency Call and bring Elemental Hero Stratos to my hand. Then, I play my spell card Double Summon, allowing me to summon Stratos to the field. With his second effect, I can add any Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand; and I choose Elemental Hero Neos Alius. Then, I set a facedown and activate Swords of Revealing Light. That'll do it for now! How's that?"

"Not bad at _all_, Jaden. But if you're going easy on me because I'm an attractive, young, and intelligent woman, you should stop!"

TK and Kari exchanged looks of complete and utter disbelief while Kaiba suppressed the urge to laugh. Yugi just stared in shock.

"Uh…right…why don't you make your move, Zoe?"

"Very well! I activate my facedown card Aqua Chorus. This gives my monsters a 500 point boost if there is another monster on the field with the same name as them. So that bumps my Harpies up to 3000! Now I summon Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, whose 1200 attack points double whenever there are 2 or more Harpies on the field. Plus, you can't choose any of my ladies as targets. And lastly, this gentlemanly pet comes with an awesome new special effect; he can destroy any card on the field once per turn! You know what that means!"

"My Swords!" Jaden gasped.

"That's riiiiiight! Do your stuff Baby Dragon! Clear the field of his swords with—"

The field began to flicker in and out as the monsters faded.

"What happened?!" Zoe demanded.

"Our DigiDuel Morphers are doing something weird," TK noted, glancing at the blinking beacon in the orb on his Morpher.

Moments later, Yugi's morpher exploded in a burst of black energy, drawing and pulling him forward in an opposite direction. "My Morpher is doing something!"

"It's trying to lead you to something," Sagemon said. "It's probably picking up on one of the Barriers!"

"Yeah, but if it's the Barrior of the Abyss, it can't be found at night," said KnightPatamon. "We should probably hold off on dueling or making too much noise for now. Daemon was probably alerted of the signal too, and I'm sure he'll send scouts out."

"It's getting late anyway," agreed TK. "Why don't we call it a night for now?"

"Aw! But I was just about to win!" Zoe groaned.

"Not quite," Jaden chuckled. "My facedown was Divine Wrath, so as soon as your Dragon activated his effect, I would've discarded Neos Alius to destroy him and keep my Swords of Revealing Light."

Zoe frowned and scoffed. "So! I still had 3 Harpies with 3000 attack points; your _Neos Alius _wouldn't stand a chance!"

"I think it's best if you just let her think she won," Kari suggested with a slight laugh.

—Episode III—

"This was a lot easier to find than I thought it'd be," Yugi muttered as he and the others overlooked the glowing atmosphere in the middle of the forest.

"Yeah, our DigiDuel Morphers led us right to it," TK agreed.

Kari squinted up at the dense canopy, trying to penetrate it to catch a glimpse of sunlight. It was no use. "Can we go soon? This place is creepy."

Zoe nodded, "agreed."

"Women," Kaiba sighed, his irritation obvious.

Yugi stepped toward the swirling energy in the center of the clearing, his deck glowing with black, foggy energy. "Be careful, Yugi!" said Sagemon, Yugi's rookie-stage digimon.

"Don't be a coward; go with him!" NovaSalamon barked as she shook her silky fur.

Slowly, the green-eyed Sagemon followed his partner into the shroud of mist that was shadow energy.

"So what exactly will this Barrier do?" Yugi asked as he and Sagemon entered the fog.

"According to legend," began Sagemon in his gruff voice, mysterious voice, "it will allow me to channel my power into your deck and chosen monster, and allow you to use that power yourself. In that instance, you and I would basically fuse."

"Like Duel Armor!" Yugi remembered.

"To an extent. I hear it's even more exhilarating than that."

Yugi could hardly imagine something more powerful feeling than the duel armor, but just thinking about it gave him goosebumps of anticipation.

"Hello Pharaoh," a mysterious voice whispered.

"Who's there?!" Yugi shouted. "Whoever you are, you obviously haven't heard! The _Pharaoh_ returned to his time a long time ago."

Yugi activated his DigiDuel Morpher and planted his feet firmly. "But if you want Yugi, bring it on!"

Out of the mist shot a shadowy figure, its appearance resembling a ghoul of sorts.

"I am the spirit of the Abyssal Barrier. In order to test your worthiness of this barrier, you must defeat me in a duel and prove to me that you _are _a Barrier Guardian."

"No problem!"

"Then let's duel!" it screeched as it began to morph.

Yugi fought back the urge to scream as he realized who his opponent would be.

"What's the matter Yugi? Aren't you happy to see me?"

"A-a-Atem? Is that you?"

"I have volunteered to aid the DD Avatar in testing you and helping you advance to full Guardian Status. But…I am compelled to use every force in my body to stop you."

Yugi hesitated but held his left forearm out further in front of his body. "I'm ready!"

The two paused before simultaneously shouting, "Let's Duel!"

"I'll start things off as a guest," said Atem, his duel disk appearing in a sparkle of pruple and black energy.

"I draw! And summon Queen's Knight to the field in defense mode. I then activate my Double Summon Spell card to Normal Summon King's Knight to the field in attack mode; and, whenever he's summoned while Queen's Knight is on the field, I can summon—"

"Jack's Knight from your hand or deck to the field in Attack Position," Yugi finished with an admirable smirk.

Atem grinned, then pulled forth his card and bellowed, "Exactly!"

Jack's Knight appeared on the field with his 3 comrades, then nodded to Yugi, who nodded back from across the field.

"I'll end my turn with a facedown."

"Very well. Now _I _draw and summon Breaker the Magical Warrior in attack mode!" The crimson-clad monster swirled onto the field that had cleared itself temporarily of the black mist covering the two duelist's surroundings. "I now play Breaker's ability and destroy your facedown!"

With a swish of his saber, Breaker destroyed the facedown Atem had planted—the Shift trap card.

Yugi couldn't hide the shock on his face.

"What's the matter, Yugi? Not what you expected?" bated Atem.

"Well, I thought for sure you'd have something to negate my attack altogether."

"Not quite."

"Well, since Breaker's attack points return to 1600, I'll lay down two facedowns and end my turn."

"Very well!" Atem shouted as he drew his card, "I draw and tribute my 3 knights to summon…"

"Oh no!"

"Obelisk the Tormentor!"

As the 3 monsters transformed into spheres of light, they coalesced into a beacon of energy that shot forth to the sky, heralding the arrival of one of Egypt's most frightening beasts.


End file.
